February 2011

Having a hand that isn’t working properly is tedious at the best of times – when you have 3500 vines to prune it isn’t quite the best of times. An osteopath, a doctor and a physio don’t quite know why I have limited strength in my right hand, especially in the smaller fingers. I remember John Peel saying he’d come of his bike and bashed his head, and although he felt fine his nose wouldn’t stop running…turns out this is a classic symptom of a fractured skull. I believe a mushroom biryani was delivered to the person who rang the studio to inform him of the diagnosis. Or perhaps I’m confusing that with the story where Billy Bragg got his first break on radio when Peel said he’d give a session to the first person to show up with a mushroom biryani for him. Anyway, in the spirit of both stories, true or otherwise, I will gladly deliver a Tarka masala* to anyone who can tell me what’s up with my hand.

Where was I…I’m sure I had something to say about what’s been going on here.Yes, the pruning…it is done, thankfully, with the help of an old friend and two new ones. 3 days between four of us and all the vines are pruned and tied up.

Wondering what’s involved? Or perhaps got 6.35 to kill and work’s a bit dull, here’s Trent and I going over what to do back in late November.